


That Black Forest and the Fire in Earnest

by nikki_raves



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Angst, Dark, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fae & Fairies, Fae Magic, Fairy!Robbie, M/M, My take on Nine being mean to Robbie, Nine is not Ipro, Past Abuse, Physical Abuse, Psychological Trauma, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-09-20 00:44:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 18,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9467906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nikki_raves/pseuds/nikki_raves
Summary: Sportacus tries to gain Robbie's trust but knows nothing of the abuse Number Nine inflicted on him. However, there's more to the story than Robbie initially thought.EDIT: In light of the recent news regarding Stefan Karl, this fic will no longer be continued.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction ever. I haven't written in more than 5 years so I am very rusty. This took a great deal to write because I kept second-guessing myself. Please bear with me while I slowly figure out how to use this website! :) also you can find me on tumblr under lazytown-is-life.tumblr.com.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is meant to set up the story so that's why it's a bit short. Also what am I doing with my life.

Elven magic was a complicated, temperamental thing. It could be used to break, to cause damage and pain beyond comprehension. It could also be used to heal, to love, to sooth wounds and repair bones. The type of magic depended on the wielder. 

Robbie had only been exposed to the first kind.

It was a warm day in Lazytown. The kids were outside, reading lazily on the park benches and napping in the sun. Only Mayor Meanswell was busy; he was setting up for an event that would happen later that afternoon. Robbie was sitting behind the farm billboard that hid the opening to his underground lair, enjoying the peace and quiet, when a shadow came over him.

“ _Excuse me_ , do you mi—” he began, his voice dying in his throat when he saw the threatening figure of Number Nine looming over him.

“Robbie,” Nine glared. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I _think_ I’m sitting here, trying to get some sun,” Robbie snarled, trying to sound braver than he felt. The last time he had seen Nine was not a pleasant memory. Absently Robbie rubbed his wrist without breaking eye contact with the hero.

“I saw one of your traps in the town square. I thought I made it clear that you had to have those cleaned up by last week,” Nine said, thrusting his finger painfully into Robbie’s shoulder. Robbie flinched and tried not to let the fear show on his face.

“I did, I got rid of all of them. I must have missed one. I’ll go get it now.” Robbie got up, trying to make an escape from Nine and the threatening conversation. Before he could start walking away, Nine grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. Robbie turned to look at the hero, fear clearly written on his face as memories of what happened last time resurfaced.

“Do you know what could have happened to the kids if one of them fell into one of your death traps?”

“None of those are meant to kill.” Robbie tried to pull his arm back but Nine’s grip tightened and the hero bared his teeth. 

“I don’t think you understand the gravity of the situation, Robbie,” Nine snarled. “Allow me to show you.”

Nine yanked a struggling Robbie with him to the center of town, where a deep pit was dug into the field, covered haphazardly with leaves and vines from the nearby trees.

“How deep is this pit, Robbie?” Nine asked, pushing the tall man so that he teetered on the edge of the hole. Robbie swallowed and nervously said, “About ten feet. Nothing you couldn’t easily jump out of.”

Nine laughed humorlessly. “I know it’s no problem for me, but what about for you?” He pushed Robbie into the pit before he could react, laughing again when Robbie screamed out in shock. The hero threw the lid over the hole, clicking the lock into place.

“I told you not to mess with me, Robbie. Next time you won’t get off so lenient.”

The hero flipped and bounced away, leaving Robbie alone in the dark hole.

*

Robbie started to panic. He had never liked small, dark spaces, not since his father... 

He shuddered. His father feared Robbie’s magic, the magic he could not yet control because he was so young. Robbie remembered the look of disgust on his father’s face, remembered the screams as he forced Robbie to stop using it, even though half the time Robbie had no idea what exactly he was doing…

He shook his head. _Now is not the time to start thinking about that. Focus on getting out of here!_ He bit back the panic and claustrophobia, trying to channel his magic into something useful, something he could use to open the door. _But don’t let Nine see._ So far, by some miracle, Robbie had managed to keep his magical abilities a secret from the town hero, but he was scared to try anything now because he wasn’t sure how far away Nine was.

Robbie tried to focus, but his thoughts were moving too fast. He couldn’t think of anything that could help; all the spells and charms and incantations he had learned left his mind and he was drawing up blanks.

“Fuck!” he yelled, pounding on the door, willing it to break open. Tears, hot and angry, welled in his eyes and blurred his vision. He blinked them back furiously, knowing that he had to stay calm but failing miserably. His heart rate rose and the walls seemed to constrict around him. He looked around, breath hitching in his throat, and dug at them with his fingers until they bled.

Minutes passed, then hours, and eventually Robbie exhausted himself. He sat on the floor of the pit, arms around his knees, eyes closed, trying to think of open skies.

“Please come back, please come back, please come back,” he chanted. Nine couldn’t leave him here to die, could he? Would he? Robbie knew the hero didn’t like him but murder seemed like a stretch, even for him.

After a while Robbie lost track of time. He knew from the lack of sunlight filtering in from the tiny hole on the lid that it was nighttime. He'd been in there for what...eight hours? Twelve? He didn’t know. His stomach rumbled, and he stared blankly at the wall of dirt ahead of him.

Suddenly he heard the sound of metal on metal, and then, miraculously, the lid of the pit opened. Both relieved that it was open but terrified of seeing Nine again, Robbie cowered into himself, hiding his head in his arms.

“So,” Nine drawled, “all it takes to tame you is a little dark hole, huh?” He chuckled, reaching down and yanking the man out of the trap. Robbie crawled desperately away, wanting nothing more than to go home, wrap himself up in a blanket, and sleep.

Nine stepped in front of him, blocking his way. Robbie looked up at him with wide eyes and dirt-stained cheeks. _Don’t cry, don’t cry. Not in front of him._ The hero gently rubbed his thumb across the cuts on Robbie’s face, a spell causing them to burn with pain. Robbie hissed, but Nine did not loosen his grip on the man’s face.

“I better not catch you setting traps anymore, or you won’t like the outcome.”

Nine jogged away and left Robbie in the middle of the field, shivering and alone.


	2. Chapter 2

Robbie was home, sitting in his favorite orange recliner. His hands were bandaged and his hair was disheveled. The TV was running in the background but he wasn't paying any attention. He had not left his lair in three days. The kids visited and tried to come inside, but Robbie ignored their calls and eventually they assumed he was out of town.

_Why did this happen?_

Nine had always been brooding and dark; he constantly berated Robbie but never touched him. One day he had seemed angrier than usual, which Robbie had put down to annoyance at something or other. The next day he had broken Robbie's wrist over one of his failed plans to rid the town of the hero. After that, things had escalated quickly. He miserably looked down at the bandaged hands in his lap. His nails were badly bleeding and stung nonstop, but the damage this time was not only physical. Nine had stepped up his game, going for psychological trauma too. 

Robbie was scared for what the future would bring. 

Suddenly there was a knock at the latch leading down to his lair. Robbie's blood ran cold. _No, it couldn't be him. Not already._ He fumbled for his periscope and quickly pointed it in the direction of his home's entrance. 

Sure enough, there was Nine, that angry scowl on his face. 

"I know you're in there Robbie! Open the door!"

Robbie immediately panicked. 

"Shit shit shit shit," he muttered, wrapping his arms around himself. He looked around his lair but none of his machines could help him. 

Nine grew tired of waiting and forcefully let himself in. Robbie was near hysterical waiting for Nine to emerge from the slide that led directly to his living room. 

The hero tumbled gracefully out, standing and smoothing the front of his vest. 

"Hello," he said almost pleasantly. 

"What do you want?" Robbie muttered, afraid to make eye contact. 

"I—" Nine stopped. Robbie snuck a look at the hero's face. Nine seemed...confused. He looked back at Robbie as if unsure as to why he was there. The two looked at each other for a moment, both confused. Robbie was almost tempted to say something, but then the uncertainty left Nine's face and the steely look returned. "I just came to tell you something." 

"Oh yea?" Robbie stood there nervously. _What do I do?_ Was this a trick? _Stay calm._  

“Yea,” Nine spat. He muttered something quietly under his breath, and new cuts appeared on Robbie’s face, the stinging pain causing him to gasp and stumble backwards.

“I know you haven’t been out of this pathetic excuse you call a house for the past few days. I advise you to keep it that way,” the hero warned.

That claustrophobic feeling surrounded Robbie again, making him feel more alone and unwanted than ever. Against his better judgement, he started yelling at Nine.

“What is your _problem?_ What did I do to make you hate me so much?”

Nine had started walking to the slide to leave, but at Robbie’s words stopped. With his back still to the man, he said “Just keep yourself hidden. You’re a threat to the kids.” With that, he left.

The TV murmured in the background and Robbie considered his options. The first issue was his injuries. He could use magic to heal them, but he didn’t want Nine to know about that side of him, and although waiting for his cuts to heal naturally would take forever, he decided to go with that safer option. The second issue was Nine himself. Robbie could just leave town, but where would he go? As much as he hated the noisiness of the place, Lazytown was his _home_. And besides, Robbie couldn’t shake the nagging suspicion that something bigger was going on. The way Nine had looked at him was…strange. The hero was never lost for words before today. Robbie would have disregarded this small inconsistency in the hero’s personality if it hadn’t been for that look. That utterly confused look that Robbie knew too well.

What reason would Nine have to look that way? After all, _he_ had been the one to come into Robbie’s lair with a purpose, with something to say.

Suddenly Robbie jerked, almost unwillingly, and looked at the time, realizing how late it was. He quickly stuck bandages on the shallow cuts on his face and lay down in his recliner to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going somewhere with this i promise


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robbie goes to a party.

Robbie woke with a start to the thumping of kids feet above his ceiling.

“Those noisy, good for nothing…” he muttered, getting out of his chair and stretching his long limbs. He went up to a mirror and examined the cuts on his face. They were already scabbing over. _Good. I’ll attract less attention this way._

He needed to go to the store to get a few supplies, and with Nine’s warning flashing in his head, Robbie wasn’t sure how to proceed. Since Lazytown was such a small town, any disguise he wore would attract more attention since everyone would crowd to see the newcomer. Robbie couldn’t have that after all the threats he had received from Nine. He decided to use his magic and hope for the best.

Robbie stood still in the middle of his lair, closed his eyes, and imaged the quietest, most ignored corner in the store he was headed to. With a snap of his fingers, he vanished and reappeared.

For a moment, he didn’t move, listening carefully. Nervously he opened one eye and noticed that he had teleported into the stockroom of the grocery store. _Perfect._ Robbie scampered down the stairs onto the main floor of the store and picked out the items he needed. He was ready to step into the bathroom to teleport back home when a familiar pink figure ran up to him.

“Robbie!” the pink child yelled excitedly. “Where have you been? We haven’t seen you for days! You missed the sports festival!”

The sports festival. _So that’s what the mayor was setting up that day._

“Be gone Pinky, I am very busy,” Robbie huffed, drawing himself up to his full height and adjusting his vest.

“Where have you been?” the child insisted.

“Stephanie! Where did you go?” Milford’s voice called out from a few aisles over.

“Right here, uncle!”

 _Crap._ Robbie’s plan to go unnoticed was quickly falling apart. He considered making a run for it while Stephanie’s attention was diverted but he couldn’t before Milford arrived.

“Ah, Mr. Rotten. How have you been?”

“Busy,” Robbie repeated. “Very busy. In fact, I must leave right now.”

“Robbie, Stingy is having a birthday party this afternoon. Will you come?” Stephanie begged.

“Pinky, did you not just hear—”

“Pleeeease Robbie, it will be so fun! And we haven’t seen you in _so long_.”

“It’s only been three—”

“I won’t take no for an answer!” Stephanie said, looking up at the man with a firm expression.

“I— _fine_. Maybe I’ll come for a—”

“Yay! The party is at 4 o’clock,” the child beamed, running closer to squeeze Robbie around the waist in a tight hug. She let go and she and Milford walked away.

Robbie made an escape to the restrooms before anyone else could see him. He snapped his fingers once more and rematerialized in his home.

_What did I get myself into?_

*

Robbie did not want to go to the party. Not just because he had better things to do with his time, but also because he was afraid of seeing Nine. He didn’t believe that he was a threat to the kids—none of his traps had ever harmed any of them before—but he knew Nine did not think the same.

 _What do I do now?_ He didn’t want to be a no-show and go back on his word—even _he_ had some manners, you know. But he also didn’t want to be attacked again…

 _Maybe I can come by for a minute to say hello and then immediately leave._ Surely that could work.

*

Robbie arrived at Stingy’s house at 4:15. Stingy opened the door, looking surprised to see that the man had actually come, but quickly welcomed him inside.

“Hello, _Stinky_.”

“It’s Sting—”

“I just came to drop this off,” Robbie interrupted, holding out a striped purple and pink box.

“Is that Robbie?” a voice squealed from the back. A small figure thrust his way through the crowd, craning his neck to see around Stingy.

“Hello Ziggy,” Robbie said. “And goodbye.” He turned to leave and ran right into Nine. Immediately he paled and took a step back.

“Leaving so soon Robbie?” Nine asked, white teeth glinting in the light.

“Y-yes, I have a few things to attend to,” Robbie gulped. His heart was racing and sweat was crawling down his spine like a wet spider.

 _Oh no, fuck fuck._ As if in remembrance, his wrist throbbed and his face ached.

“You sure those things can’t wait until tomorrow? I’m sure the kids would _love_ to spend more time with you,” Nine smirked, baiting him. Robbie didn’t know how to respond.

“No that’s fine, I’ll see them some other time. I really am busy.” He made to push past the hero but Nine blocked him. _What the hell does he want from me? First he says I can’t go near the kids, then he says I can’t leave._

“I insist,” the hero said.

Aware that the kids were watching from behind him, he tried to stay calm and avoid a scene but was quickly growing irritated.

“ _No_ , that’s _fine. Really._ I’m going to go. Goodnight kids.” With one final wave, Robbie started walking away. He was halfway to his lair when Nine started jogging after him.

“Robbie!” he called. Robbie would have kept walking if it hadn’t been for the tone of Nine’s voice. He sounded almost…scared. He slowly turned and waited for Nine to catch up.

“I have to tell you something,” the hero started. Robbie waited and waited but Nine didn’t continue talking. Robbie was getting anxious with every passing second, and a warm panic filled him. Nine opened and closed his mouth a few times, unsure.

“What do you want?” Robbie asked. “You told me to stay away from the kids so I did, I _tried_ , I’ve been trying to stay out of your way but I don’t know what—”

“I think there’s dark magic here. Sometimes I—” Suddenly he stopped. A nervous flicker crossed his face and then his eyes widened in fear. “Robbie get out of here! Now!” he barked.

Robbie couldn’t move. He watched, transfixed at the sight before him. Nine crouched to the ground in pain, his whole body shaking. The crystal on his chest started beeping and flashing an angry red. 

“No, no, no!” he yelled, clawing at his hair. “STOP!” He started convulsing on the grass.

“Wait, what—” Robbie looked around. _What the hell am I supposed to do?_

Here was his abuser, the person who had tormented him for a long time, just lying here totally defenseless. Was Robbie supposed to help him? He sure as hell didn’t want to; he wanted the kids away from such a sick person and he wanted to stop being the hero’s punching bag. But Nine had said something…

_I think there’s dark magic here…_

And then there was that look from yesterday…

Robbie made a decision.

He knelt by the seizing man and steadied his hands over him. Robbie started muttering a protection spell under his breath, watching as golden threads began weaving themselves from his hands to the hero’s body. The gold net spread over Nine’s form, completely covering him. Nine stilled and relaxed.

For a tense moment, Robbie thought it worked.

Then Nine’s eyes shot open. They were completely black.

The golden threads started turning black, rapidly climbing back up Nine’s arms and legs. The moment they connected with Robbie’s palms there was a flash of light and Robbie felt pain, pain he couldn’t even imagine. It felt as though every nerve was on fire, every bone broken, every joint dislocated. He felt a pressure in his skull and his eyes throbbed. He was blown back from the hero’s still form and landed painfully on pavement. Robbie had one final thought before he lost consciousness.

_I never thought this is how I would die._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I've gotten a couple messages about this on tumblr so I just wanted to clarify Nine is not Ipro from the stage plays. I realized I made a mistake in the tags with that so I've since fixed it. Nine is just the hero before Sportacus. :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time of Realizing Things(TM) has begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates might be slower this week because I have a bunch of stuff to do but I'll try to keep it updated pretty regularly!

_Everything hurts._

The first thing Robbie registered was the pain. There was a dull ache all over his body, but his palms still felt like they were on fire. Groggily he lifted his hands up to his eyes and saw that they were swollen, red, and bleeding.

He looked around, trying to orient himself. He was lying on his back in the middle of the road. The moon was out and it was quiet. Robbie tried to get up into a sitting position but his head protested so he stayed still for a bit longer.

“Eugh,” he groaned, feeling a rock under his spine. He rolled over to dig it out when something caught his eye.

“Robbie,” Nine said. He was standing, arms crossed, looking down at Robbie from a few feet away. His usually spotless pale red costume was covered in dirt and burn marks.

Robbie stiffened. Which version of Nine would he see?

The hero knelt beside the man and leaned close to his ear.

“Don’t get any false ideas about what just happened. Breathe one word of this to _anyone_ and I will make sure you never speak again.” He sauntered off, stretching out his arms as he went.

Robbie knew something was extremely wrong. The fact that Nine walked away spoke volumes. Nine never _walked_ , he always flipped or jogged or cartwheeled or _something_ but Robbie had never seen him _walk_.

Robbie prayed that he had enough energy left to do magic. He closed his eyes, thought of his orange recliner, and snapped his fingers.

*

Robbie snapped one more time to get a fire going in his fireplace, then knelt by the flames to warm himself up. It was morning, and the kids were once again playing above his lair.

_At least some things never change._  

“Now for the hands,” he said to no one in particular, taking a closer look at the damage. Small curls of smoke radiated from the blistered skin on his palms. They didn’t _look_ cursed, but then again Robbie had no idea what had made his protection spell backfire like that.

He focused his magic into his hands, whispered a healing spell, and watched as a blue mist surrounded the damaged skin. He felt a cooling sensation, and then the mist dissipated. His hands had scabbed over, but they were still red and painful to touch.

_Looks like the damage is worse than I thought_ , Robbie mused. It should have been strange to him that the damage was that bad, but he didn’t give it a second thought.

He didn’t have anything planned for the day so he lounged in the recliner with the TV on maximum volume and a slice of cake in his lap.

As the days passed, Robbie grew more confidence to step outside his lair. Nine hadn’t spoken to him since that night so he felt that it was—for the moment—safe.

The second he stepped outside his lair he almost tripped on a rouge roller skate. He grabbed onto the latch of his door to steady himself and then heard a child’s laugh coming from behind the billboard.

“Sorry Robbie!” a small girl with pigtails snickered. “We were just coming to say hi!”

“Trixie, that wasn’t very nice!” Stephanie called, running up the hill to where the two stood.

“What are you _brats_ doing here?” Robbie huffed. “Isn’t there someone else you can pester?”

“Nine is sick, so that would be a no,” Trixie said.

“Sick? What do you mean, sick? Superheroes don’t get _sick_.”

“Well he was feeling tired the past few days. He looked awful really. Bags under his eyes, no energy. He barely even smiled,” Stephanie explained sadly. “After that, he’s been cooped up in his airship mostly. Luckily no one has gotten into trouble…I doubt he could save anyone right now…”

“Has he said anything?” Robbie hesitated.

“No, but we snuck into his airship once when he left the ladder down to leave him a get-well-soon card and he was moving around in his sleep, like he was having a nightmare.” Trixie grabbed her roller blade and started walking back down the hill to where the other kids were. “Come on Stephanie!”

“Be right there!” Stephanie waited until Trixie was out of earshot and then motioned at Robbie to kneel down.

“What is it little girl?” Robbie said indignantly when Stephanie pulled him closer. She furtively started whispering.

“When we were leaving the ship, Trixie went down the ladder first. I was a little slow because I’m…scared of heights,” the girl blushed, “but I heard Nine saying something so I walked over to see if he needed anything.” When she didn’t continue, Robbie looked at her. She looked troubled, as if she didn’t want to say what she was about to say.

“He was saying your name…and _apologizing_ …but then he would say really awful things too…”

“Go on,” Robbie prompted.

“Things like how he has to hurt you…a-and ‘finish the job this time’…”

“That’s enough,” he said, straightening back up. “You should run along now Pinky, they’re probably all waiting for you.” Stephanie’s face fell.

“Ok Robbie. See you around.”

Robbie started walking around town, mulling things over.

So Nine was sick, and apparently it had something to do with Robbie. But how did dark magic play into all of this?

Robbie walked further and further away from the center of town, heading towards the city limits where the forest began.

The confused look…the collapsing…the sickness…it all had to mean something. Why did Robbie feel like he was hitting a wall every time he tried to think about this? He felt distracted, like every stray thought would take his mind off of this situation and into another direction entirely.

_What does it mean?_

Robbie stepped onto the crunchy leaves that littered the forest floor. And suddenly, several puzzle pieces fell into place. Suddenly, the answer that had been staring Robbie in the face this whole time revealed itself.

_Possession magic._


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robbie realizes some more things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is part one of a two part chapter. The second part will be posted soon after this one.

Robbie stopped in his tracks, wondering at how much lighter he felt after making his discovery. Then he was immediately angry with himself.

_I should have_ known _there was a glamour!_

How could he not have known? He was supposed to be able to see through such things. What was the point of having magic then, if he fell for the same tricks that humans did? A voice in the back of Robbie’s mind told him not to be so hard on himself, told him that Nine’s glamour was highly advanced magic that tricked many magical beings as well, told him that the _point_ of a glamour was to stop someone from thinking too deeply about something, but Robbie was having none of it. 

_That would explain why I couldn’t focus until I got farther away from the city square._

Now that Robbie knew he had more freedom of thought away from Nine’s blimp, he set to work. Finding a rock to sit on, Robbie conjured up a purple notebook and pen and set to work.

“Alright,” Robbie began, finding it easier to speak out loud. “What was the beginning _really_ like?” Robbie thought back to when Nine had first arrived in town. It was tiring, sluggish work; his brain didn’t seem to want to think critically after being fooled for so long. Finally he recovered a memory:

*

It was another sunny day in Lazytown. The kids were playing video games at Pixel’s house and Robbie was sleeping in his favorite bench outside. All was quiet.

A shadow passed over him, moving too fast to be a cloud. He cracked one eye open, annoyed at the disturbance. He saw a huge red _blimp_ drifting across the sky.

_What is_ that? 

A ladder unfurled from below the ship and a man in a light red suit jumped down onto the ground. His chest was emblazoned with a black number nine. He looked around, hands on his hips, until he saw Robbie and smiled, flipping over to the man.

“Hello there!” he called, waving.

*

Robbie sat still, trying to remember more. So initially Nine _had_ been kind, loving, and supportive. Robbie recalled bits and pieces of memories where Nine would rush over to save someone in danger, but every time he tried to think harder he would only remember how evil Nine was, how he yelled at Robbie every time the two met. It was hard to discern the true memories from the glamoured ones.

With time, Robbie knew the memory blocks would fade and he would remember everything clearly, for that was the nature of a glamour once it had been discovered. But Robbie did not have time to wait. Nine was sick now but who knows how long that would last? Dark magic didn’t tend to stay quiet for long.

Robbie closed his eyes and focused, trying to trace the other citizens of Lazytown to see if they had been glamoured as well. Subconsciously Robbie knew that Nine had never hurt the children but he just wanted to make sure. Sure enough, the auras of each of the children were clear and untainted. They adored Nine simply because of his personality, not because of magic. This calmed Robbie a little, knowing that the kids were not involved.

“Now what?” Robbie mused, a question he knew he asked too often. How was he supposed to proceed? There was an elf in his town possessed by some dark creature, one whose identity Robbie did not know. Clearly Nine was trying to fight it, but he couldn’t fight forever. From his schooling Robbie knew that the victims of possession magic could sometimes remember what they were being forced to do, which Robbie guessed was happening with Nine. He also knew that if the victim resisted, the possessor usually retaliated tenfold. That would explain why Nine had been sick for so many days. His possessor was probably tormenting him, trying to force him to break.

Robbie twitched at the thought. He didn’t know _what_ to feel. For so long he had believed that Nine was the cause of all of his problems, his nightmares, his anxieties. Now that he knew that wasn’t really Nine, and…well he was confused, to say the least.

There was only one thing to do right now. Robbie had to see the extent of the magic on Nine.

“Time to pay him a visit,” he sighed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robbie sees the airship for the first time.

Nine’s ladder had been left down for days now, and besides Stephanie and Trixie entering that one time, everyone kept a respectful distance. Of course people wanted to go up and try to help, but Stephanie—nervous after hearing Nine’s fevered mutterings about hurting Robbie—kept everyone away, telling him he needed space to heal. Sometimes Robbie felt as though she was much cleverer than he gave her credit for.

Robbie nervously approached the town square where Nine’s airship was floating. He had one hand on the first rung and was ready to climb when he heard a tentative voice behind him.

“Robbie?”

He turned around and saw Stephanie standing there with wide eyes. “What are you doing?”

“None of your business Pinky. What are _you_ doing here?”

“I wanted to make sure no one tries to sneak up there,” she said, squinting her eyes at the man.

“And why do you care?”

“Because I know something…is wrong…Nine would _never_ act that way…”

“Pinky, I want you to do something for me.” The girl immediately perked up.

“What is it?”

“ _Go away_.”

“Robbie, didn’t you _hear_ me telling you all the horrible stuff Nine said? What if you get sick too?”

Robbie sighed and kneeled down to meet the girl’s eyes.

“Pin—Stephanie, I have to go up there to see what’s going on. I don’t want you to get hurt by being too close to the airship. That’s why I need you to _leave._ ”

Stephanie, seemingly understanding the weight of the situation, nodded solemnly, confusion and fear flitting across her face.

“Just…be careful, ok?” she begged before running off. Touched by the girl’s concern, Robbie started climbing.

*

Slowly the ship’s platform lifted Robbie into the airship, and just like that he was inside.

“Homey,” he muttered, taking in the complete whiteness of the ship. To his left he saw Nine’s bed with its red sheets. Nine was sleeping fitfully; he was tangled up in his blanket and Robbie heard him groaning. His crystal was set on the nightstand by his bed; it was flashing red and beeping nonstop.

Robbie wasn’t sure how to proceed.

_Should I wake him up?_

He took another step closer to get a better look at Nine. The elf’s face was contorted with pain and was covered with a thin sheen of sweat. His brown curls were tangled and messy. Robbie hesitantly reached out a hand and shook Nine’s shoulder. The hero gasped awake and immediately sat up.

“Robbie, you shouldn’t be here, get out!” Nine urged. He grabbed the mirror by his pillow and frantically checked his eyes.

“What—are you doing?” Robbie asked. The elf looked at him fearfully.

“Sometimes my eyes aren’t brown…sometimes they’re black. I think that day out…out on the field you saw it too.” Robbie had never seen the hero so scared and disorganized.

“Nine,” Robbie began firmly. “We don’t have much time. There’s possession magic here, we have to figure out a way to break it.”

“Only another elf—another—GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” Nine doubled over, clawing at his arms and drawing blood. He writhed in agony, pressing his palms against his eyes and screaming in frustration. “Robbie leave now! I can’t keep it off muc—”

Nine fell back against the sheets, twisting his fingers in his hair, his spine arching off the bed. Robbie was panicking too; between Nine’s yelling and the crystal’s keening he didn’t know how to help. He started muttering a Calming spell but one of Nine’s arms accidentally hit him, ruining the orange web Robbie was weaving.

“Eugh, hold still!” Robbie yelled, though he knew Nine was beyond hearing. There was no way he could cast a spell with the elf thrashing around like this.

_Time for Plan B._

Robbie focused his magic around Nine. He began to build around a ward around the hero, praying that it would be enough to protect him until they could think of a solution.

It wasn’t.

The ward backfired horribly. With a terrible _POP!_ the two men were thrown apart. Nine fell against the back of the airship and slumped over, and Robbie landed painfully on the ship’s controls.

Robbie looked around groggily. His eyesight was blurry and his ears rang.

“Ni—ne,” he stammered, trying to locate the elf. He struggled to stay awake but the waves of unconsciousness washed over him heavily. “N- _no_ , y-you can’t sleep…”

Minutes passed, or maybe hours, Robbie couldn’t tell. Once he felt stable enough he stood up and saw the hero still knocked out against the wall. He started walking over to Nine.

“Ouch! What the—!” A sharp shock hit Robbie, electrocuting his hands and face.

_Oh no._

There must have already been a ward around Nine, put there by whoever was possessing him. When Robbie tried to add his own, the two spells interacted badly. In retaliation, Nine’s ward extended out further. Robbie experimentally put his palms up against the invisible sphere around Nine, testing its limits. He tried to push through but the longer his skin was exposed to the ward the more it burned.

“ _Shiiiiiiiiiit_. Nine, can you hear me? Wave your hand if you can hear me.”

The hero remained still. Robbie knew he couldn’t get near Nine unless his possessor allowed it. It was a bad sign that the ward had been projected outward this much.

It meant Nine was losing.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, sorry for the delay. I've been dealing with some stuff and so this chapter took a little longer to write. Hope you're all having a great weekend!

“Nine. _Nine_. I know this—this isn’t you. Can you just t- _try_ to see what’s really happening here?” Robbie pleaded.

He was pressed up against the wall of the airship, his skin blistering under the power of the ward. Nine’s eyes glowed once and immediately the ward withdrew back into his body. Robbie was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the hero ran up to him and wrapped his hands around Robbie’s throat. Robbie clawed at his hands, his own magic failing him.   


_Get out of here, get out of here!_ his instincts screamed at him.

Robbie tried again for a repulsion spell and this time it worked; Nine flew across the airship and hit the other side hard, wincing in pain. He knew the ward would protect the hero against anything serious but Robbie just needed him to be dazed for a _second_ so he could escape.

The platform to get to the ladder wouldn’t go down unless Nine ordered it to, so that option was out. Robbie also had no idea how to drive the blasted ship.

He glanced quickly at the still-open door and then back to Nine. Their eyes met, and realization shot across Nine’s face.

“Door!” he cried, but Robbie was faster. He launched himself out of the open ship and into the air before the door could fully close.

The wind whistled past his ears and his heart was pounding. He deeply hoped that Stephanie had cleared everyone away like he had asked; otherwise he would have to expend a _lot_ of magic making everyone forget what they were about to see.

He unfurled his wings. They caught the air and yanked him up before letting him gently float to earth. Once his feet were safely on the ground he weaved a glamour for his wings and looked around.

Silence.

Nine hadn’t followed him down, but why?

_Maybe he’s in enough control to stay away from the kids_.

Whatever the reason, Robbie shakily made his way back home.

*

For the next few days, he slept fitfully, nightmares and headaches forcing him awake. A few more memories of Nine’s kindness resurfaced in his head, coming to him in the form of fuzzy dreams.

Robbie opened his eyes, staring at the fireplace across his chair. He knew this couldn’t go on. He had to put a stop to it before things got really out of control. But what had Nine said…?

_“Only another elf…”_

He shot to his feet, the bowl of popcorn on his lap clattering to the ground.

Robbie knew what he had to do.

*

He all but sprinted to the library, waiting for the doors to open—it was only 8:30 in the morning after all. Robbie never woke up this early, and he never ran, so saying that he was in a mad mood was an understatement.

He was impatiently tapping his foot when he saw someone else arrive.

“Good morning, Robbie.”

“Pinky?” he frowned. “What are you doing here?”

“I came here to do a little research…for school,” she explained, smiling cheerfully.

“Hmph. Fine, just stay out of my way.”

“No problem Robbie!”

The doors to the library opened promptly at 9 and Robbie rushed inside, greeted by air conditioning and rows and rows of books. He grabbed a stack of books on elves that he hoped would help and set to work, taking notes as he skimmed through each page.

The crowd inside the library thinned out as the hours ticked by. Eventually only he and Stephanie were left. Robbie looked up briefly to see Stephanie furiously writing something; she had a stack of books even higher than Robbie’s, but she was too far away for him to read the titles. As promised, she had kept her distance. Robbie had never seen her so focused. Shaking his head, he returned to the last book in his pile.

“The library is now closed,” a soft female voice announced over the loudspeakers. Robbie looked over his notes, grunting with satisfaction.

He walked back to his home, suddenly realizing he hadn’t eaten all day. How had the time passed so fast? Once he was safely inside he bolted the latch and grabbed a slice of cake from the fridge, relaxing slightly as the taste of sugar hit his tongue.

Shortly after that he decided to call it a day, curling up in his armchair and quickly falling asleep.

*

When morning came, Robbie felt better rested than he had in a while. He opened his notebook and read through his notes one more time, making sure he knew exactly what to do. He fished out a piece of paper and pen and set to work, writing a letter to someone he had never met.

When he was finished, Robbie read over it one more time and then sealed it up inside a cylindrical tube. He was unhappy and very nervous— _what if this one was worse?_ —but knew it was the only thing left that he could do.

Lazytown was about to get another elf.  


	8. Chapter 8

Robbie paced nervously in his home. On one hand, he wanted the possession magic around Nine to be broken so that Nine would stop tormenting him. On the other hand, he had no other experience with sports elves. What if the one he summoned was just as bad? He couldn’t deal with any more; the whole mess with Nine had done enough damage to his mental health to last him a lifetime. Even though Robbie now knew that it was mostly glamours and possession magic that caused it, he couldn’t stop the feeling of terror every time he looked at Nine.

In the end, he decided that it was worth a shot. He knew Nine wouldn’t hurt the kids, and that was his primary concern. He himself could move towns if things became too much to handle, but the kids could not pick up and leave. That’s why it was important to him that they were safe. He nervously brushed his hair back and climbed up the ladder that led outside.

Once outside, Robbie power-walked—he wasn’t going to _run_ twice in one week—towards the old, weed-covered airmail tube by the mailbox. It was earlier in the day than he was used to, but the sooner he could mail out his letter the sooner he could get a response and fix this mess.

_Smack!_

Robbie collided with a pink blur and both of them fell backwards.

“Ow!” the child protested. She dropped her bag and its contents spilled out onto the pavement. “Oh, sorry Robbie, I didn’t see you.”

“And why are you in such a hurry?” He watched her hastily shove her belongings back into the small pink purse.

Something she was holding caught his eye.

“ _What_ is that in your hand?”

“Nothing!” she lied, trying to stuff it in the bag but it was too late. Robbie saw it.

“Where did you get that letter tube?”

Stephanie froze. “I-it’s not a letter tube…” Her voice faltered when she saw the stern look on Robbie’s face. Instead she sighed. “Pixel said his dad had an extra one that I could borrow.”

“Where are you sending that?” Robbie asked.

“Well I’m not sure exactly. The books didn’t give me an address, they just said to write a letter to a hero.”

“Pinky, I want you to tell me everything you know. Right now.” Robbie crossed his arms and pulled himself up his full height. Stephanie sighed again.

“I saw that Nine wasn’t getting better so I went to the library. I knew none of the adults in town could help so I wanted to see who else I could call. I read that if you shoot one of these tubes into the sky, a hero might catch it and come!” Robbie could see the excitement bubbling under her serious expression. “Wouldn’t that be cool? Another hero in Lazytown!”

Robbie stared at the mailing tube in his own hands. Slowly Stephanie’s eyes trailed down to it too.

“Oh…Robbie were you going to send one too?” She wilted a little, some of her excitement fading away. “That’s ok, we can send yours. I’ll go give this back to Pixel.”

She turned to go. Robbie’s heart ached just a little bit and he called out to her.

“Pinky, wait.” He huffed and then attempted a smile. “We can both send them. Maybe then the hero will come for sure, huh?”

“Really?” she squealed. 

“Yes.” He winced. “Just promise to stay _quiet_.” She nodded vigorously, miming a zipper passing over her lips. Stephanie ran over to the mailing tube and started ripping out the weeds.

“How should we put them in?” she asked, turning to face Robbie.

“You send yours first and then we’ll do mine.”

“Okay!” She inserted the letter tube inside and then stepped back to pull the lever. They both watched with curiosity as her letter shot straight into the sky and disappeared behind the clouds. “Okay, your turn!”

Robbie’s hand paused over the lever, thinking again that maybe this wasn’t the right decision. That maybe this elf would do more than hit him a couple of times. That maybe he was damning himself by calling another hero to the town. Shaking his head, pulled the lever and sent his letter spinning off into the sky.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then Robbie saw a tiny dot come out of the clouds, growing larger by the second.

A paper airplane spiraled to the ground and landed in the bushes.

“What does it say what does it say what does it say?” She was practically _bouncing_ in place.

He retrieved the blue airplane and read the note out loud.

“ _Help is on the way_.”

They both heard a deep rumbling coming from the sky and looked up. A big blue airship sailed through the sky and came to an abrupt stop above their heads. A ladder unfurled and stopped a few feet off the ground.

They watched with fascination as a figure clad in blue stepped down the rungs and did a backflip onto the ground.

 _Oh yes, he’s a definitely a_ _sports elf_ , Robbie thought dryly. Who _else_ would do unnecessary flips and jumps like that?

“Are you a superhero?” Stephanie asked him, awe written clear as day all over her face. He laughed.

“Let’s just say I am a slightly above-average hero!”

Stephanie eyed the blue hero’s suit and noticed the number emblazoned on his chest.

“Are you number ten?” she asked excitedly.

“Yes! My name is Sportacus.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go guys, we are finally getting to the plot! Filler chapter b/c I'm drowning in work


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longest chapter yet! :)

Sportacus wandered the streets, trying to enjoy the tranquility of the town.

He had only been in Lazytown for three days and already he was starting to realize that things were not as they seemed. He knew immediately that there was a glamour around the entire town, but he didn’t know who cast it. He also sensed that there was another elf around but, wishing to respect the other’s privacy, hadn’t sought him out. Yet. He might have to though, if he couldn’t find another explanation to the strange aura around town.

It was bothering him. Beneath the serenity of the town there was something…dark. Something heavy, besides the glamour. Sportacus suspected some things but didn’t know for sure what was true. Either way, the town made him uncomfortable, to say the least.

After ten more minutes of aimlessly walking, Sportacus decided it was time to act. He jogged towards the house of the only other magical person he had directly interacted with.

*

Through the speakers installed in his underground bunker, Robbie heard the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. He yanked down the periscope to see a blue figure running towards him.

“Crap, crap,” Robbie said, anxiously running a hand through his unkempt hair.

The last three days had been…challenging. With Nine seemingly out of the picture for now, Robbie thought he would finally be able to relax and sleep, but Sportacus’ presence was unnerving. Robbie didn’t know what his intentions were, and that made him nervous. So far, the elf was pleasant and cheerful, but Robbie knew these things were meaningless.

“It was just the glamour, it was just the glamour,” he chanted to himself. He repeated this countless times every day, hoping it would help him, hoping it would stop his mind from associating elves with pain and anxiety. He was not happy about calling Sportacus to Lazytown but he had done so out of necessity. Now it was finally time to face the consequences of his actions.

He heard the footsteps stop right outside the latch and took a deep breath in.

_Tap, tap, tap!_

Surprise colored Robbie’s steeled expression when he noticed that the elf wasn’t forcing his way in.

One second passed, then two, then three.

Still nothing.

It seemed Sportacus really _was_ waiting for Robbie to answer him.

“Y-yes?” Robbie called out tentatively.

“Robbie, can we talk for a moment? I need to speak with you!” the elf called back down.

“Just a glamour,” Robbie firmly reminded himself before hitting the button that would open the latch automatically.

Sportacus shot out through the slide and landed on his feet. He briefly looked around before settling his eyes on Robbie, who gulped nervously.

“So…what do you want?” Robbie asked, not wanting to waste time. The sooner he could get the elf out of his house, the sooner he could go back to some peace and quiet.

Sportacus was a little unsettled by Robbie’s abruptness, but respected the idea that Robbie might be very busy.

“I came because I have a few questions about the town.”

Robbie sighed but nodded. He had wanted to talk to Sportacus about this immediately, but Stephanie had made him promise to give the elf some time to settle in before burdening him with their problem.

“Yes, what are your questions?”

“I know there’s another elf here,” Sportacus began uncertainly. Robbie waited but he didn’t continue.

“That’s not a question.”

Sportacus shifted uncomfortably. “Is he part of the reason you called me here? Because…” he trailed off again.

“Hurry up and spit it out, I haven’t got all day,” Robbie snarled, each passing second raising his anxiety higher and higher.

_Just a glamour, just a glamour._

“Right. Sorry. I know there’s another elf here but I haven’t seen him around, which is strange in and of itself because elves are very social. But I’ve also noticed some…I’m not sure what it is, exactly, but it _feels_ like dark magic.”

“The _question_ , Sportaloon.” Robbie impatiently tapped his foot against the concrete floor.

Sportacus blinked at the mispronunciation of his name but said nothing about it. “Is the dark magic here because of the other elf? Is that why you called me here? To help?”

“Yes. I—” Robbie had to explain the situation but didn’t know where to begin. ‘ _There’s been a glamour for who knows how long and I’ve been too blind to see it_ ’? What about ‘ _Number Nine has been abusing me and I’ve been too weak to stop him_ ’? None of this was going the way Robbie had imagined.

“Number Nine is very sick,” he said finally. “There’s possession magic around him that I can’t break. He tried to explain to me how to break it but I couldn’t understand him, so I went to the library and did my own research. Everything pointed to calling another elf, so I wrote a letter and sent it out. Then you came.” He listed off the facts in a bored, detached voice but his mind was in turmoil.

“Is he the one who cast the glamour?”

Robbie shouldn’t have been surprised that the elf knew about the glamour. Of _course_ he would know about the glamour; he wasn’t a Lazytown citizen so it wouldn’t work on him.

Then _why_ did Robbie feel even more miserable about not catching the glamour sooner?

“Yes.” Robbie nodded. “He’s been in his airship for a while now. I’m not sure why he’s not coming down but I suspect it can’t be a good sign. He’s been…short-tempered.”

Sportacus drummed his fingers against his thighs, lost in thought.

“Why would there be a possession spell on Nine? Do you have any guesses?”

Robbie shook his head unhappily. “I have no idea. Maybe he has enemies somewhere.”

Sportacus raised his hand to ruffle his hair.

Robbie flinched.

He tried to save the situation and pass it off as a scratch but it was too late. Sportacus noticed.

“Robbie…” he began slowly. Robbie could practically hear the elf’s mind whirling as he started putting two and two together. “When you say short-tempered, did Nine ever do anything to hurt the kids?”

“No, no,” Robbie said quickly. “They never suspected a thing until he stopped coming down from the blimp.”

“Did he ever do anything to hurt you?”

“No, of course not, stop asking me useless questions. Do you know how to fix him or not?” Robbie insisted, hating the direction the conversation was taking.

“You have a glamour around you too…” Sportacus said, reaching out a hand slowly.

“What are you—no, don’t!”

Sportacus dispelled the glamour Robbie had weaved around himself to hide his injuries.

Shock. Anger. Concern. Robbie read Sportacus’ face like an open book as the elf took in Robbie’s true appearance.

Yellowing bruises spotted his throat. Robbie’s hands were still blistered from Nine’s ward and his face was reddened with scabs and cuts.

“Did Nine do this?” Sportacus asked, struggling to stay calm.

Now it was Robbie’s turn to shift uncomfortably.

“Y-yes, but he didn’t know. Part of it was the magic, part of it was the ward…Nine wasn’t in control.”

Why was Robbie defending him? After all of the abuse, after all of the pain…

Robbie took a deep breath to steady himself. _Just a glamour._

“Why didn’t you heal yourself?” Sportacus asked.

“I tried, but I can’t focus enough energy into it yet. I think the ward weakened me somehow, I don’t know…” Robbie trailed off, embarrassed that he couldn’t even perform his magic correctly.

“Do you want me to help?”

Robbie looked at him suspiciously. “Why?”

“Why? Because you’re hurt!”

Robbie paused, then nodded once. Sportacus placed his hands on Robbie’s shoulders and closed his eyes. Robbie watched the elf focus, and soon a warm glow passed from his hands into Robbie. When the elf opened his eyes again, Robbie looked down at his arms and saw that they were fully healed. He uncertainly touched his face and felt nothing but smooth, healthy skin.

“Thank you,” he croaked. It was the kindest thing anyone had done for him in... a really long time. Robbie couldn’t remember the last time someone had gone out of their way to help him.

“You’re welcome.” Sportacus smiled.

*

“He’s parked his blimp here,” Robbie said, pointing at the sky. “I visited last week and that’s when he tried to tell me about breaking the curse.”

“And this has been going on for how long?” Sportacus asked, brows furrowed in concentration.

“It’s hard to say….maybe several months? The glamour makes it hard to remember exact details.”

Sportacus nodded in understanding.

“Well, let me go up there and see what I can do,” he said, grabbing onto Nine’ ladder.

“Wait what? No! No, no, no,” Robbie said frantically. “You can’t just go up there! Have you even been listening to anything I’ve been saying? He’s _dangerous_!”

Sportacus waved Robbie’s concern away. “I’ll be fine, Robbie. I’ve dealt with things like this before. Nine was right; only another elf can break a possession curse. I just have to see the situation for myself.”

Robbie was still uneasy, sure that over the course of the week Nine’s condition had deteriorated. He had no idea what Sportacus was about to see but knew it would not be good.

*

Sportacus climbed the ladder and slowly entered Nine’s home. The air was still and heavy, and the ship was dark.

“Number Nine?” Sportacus called to the lump of blankets and sheets on the bed. “I am Number Ten, I’ve come to see if I can help you.”

The lump stirred and Nine emerged from beneath the mess of fabric.

He looked _awful._

He was thin and frail. His skin was tinged green and covered in dark bruises. His eyes were screwed shut and his face was twisted with pain.

“Go,” he ordered in a raspy voice.

Sportacus had not been prepared to see _this_. From Robbie’s explanations, he had gathered that Nine was in deep trouble, but every scenario Sportacus had imagined paled in comparison to the reality.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward.

“I know there’s possession magic here. I’m going to help you break it.”

“No—too—dangerous— _go_ —” Nine pleaded, still keeping his eyes closed. His body shook with the effort of speaking these few words to Sportacus. Sweat pooled at his brow and dripped down his face. Nine grabbed fistfuls of his hair, rocking back and forth in the bed.

Sportacus centered all of his magic internally and focused it into his hands. He carefully stepped forward and reached out to touch the elf.

“Oof!” Sportacus hissed, quickly drawing his hand back and watching the blisters sprout on his palm. Robbie had told him about it, but Sportacus had completely forgotten the ward.

For his second attempt, Sportacus summoned a protection spell around himself and slowly reached out towards the ward again. Another shot of electricity jolted through him.

“Ok, so that won’t work either,” he thought aloud.

Watching Nine writhe in pain, Sportacus’ heart ached for him. He knew of only one other spell that could work.

It, too, was dark magic, but it was only ever used in absolute emergencies. Sportacus’ father had taught it to him when he was young. He had been successful with it, but it was the most challenging magic he’d ever done.

The concept was simple: Sportacus would have to take Nine’s magic and shield himself with it in order the trick the ward into thinking that he belonged on the inside, not the outside.

The actual application was difficult. Pulling someone else’s magic from them, especially unwillingly, was dangerous. It was hard to control free magic, and if Sportacus lost focus for even a moment, both he and Nine could die.

Sportacus took a deep breath, quickly bit into an apple from Nine’s sportscandy display, and once again focused his magic into his hands. He placed them just outside the ward and began murmuring the spell. He watched his magic, colored blue, start to glow on his palms and directed the string of light towards Nine. The blue gently surrounded Nine like a second skin. Sportacus ordered his magic to bind with Nine’s and gently remove it from Nine’s body. He gritted his teeth and flexed his hands, urging the spell to work quickly. Nine’s magic protested; it took a lot of energy and force to remove it.

Nine suddenly snapped upright in bed, his eyes still closed and his face smoothed into a neutral expression. Sportacus almost broke focus at the sudden movement but keep a hold on their combined magic. Nine’s eyes opened; they glowed a brilliant red. The color started to fade as Sportacus’ magic bonded with his, and eventually the hero’s brown eyes came into view. He slumped back to the bed, unconscious.

Sportacus turned his palms inward and the magic obeyed, coming towards him. He absorbed the blue and ordered the red to surround him. Cautiously he reached out towards the ward again.

This time, his hand passed through.


	10. Chapter 10

Sportacus stepped into the sphere of the ward. Immediately his crystal started beeping, sending flashes of Nine’s panic and fear into his mind.

“Shhh, I get it,” he told the crystal.

The next part was relatively easy. Sportacus had to break the possession spell. He had done it two other times before but it had always been under controlled circumstances in his classes. So technically he _hadn’t_ been lying to Robbie when he said he had dealt with this before; it was just the first time he was dealing with it under _real_ circumstances. Sportacus tried not to feel nervous but could feel the uncertainty rising in his chest.

He took a shaky breath and placed his hands on Nine’s head. He began reciting the spell that would reverse the curse. A golden web reached out from Sportacus’ hands, thin tendrils weaving themselves over Nine’s head, snaking down to cover his arms and then under the sheets to the rest of his body.

_BEEP BEEP BEEP!_

Sportacus jolted in surprise, the golden web ripping apart and disintegrating into nothing.

“What—?” he turned around, slightly irritated at the interruption.

Someone was coming up the platform and the ship was beeping to warn them.

Sportacus watched the top of Robbie’s head emerge through the hole in the ship. Once the platform had locked into place, Robbie staggered away from the pole, looking pale.

“What are you doing here?” Sportacus demanded. He berated himself for leaving the platform down earlier; he had simply jumped up into the ship in his haste instead of waiting. He should have been more aware. Robbie could have fallen off, or worse. “You could have hurt yourself!”

“You’ve been up here for _hours_ ,” Robbie said, breathing hard. “I had to come up here and see what was going on.”

 _Hours?_ Sportacus felt slightly dizzy. It had only felt like minutes.

“Leave right now,” he said firmly. “What I’m doing here is extremely dangerous and I don’t want you to get hurt.

“Let me help somehow,” Robbie insisted, coming towards them. Sportacus opened his mouth to warn Robbie not to slam into the ward, but it was too late.

Robbie collided head-on with Nine’s ward.

Immediately Nine’s eyes opened.

“Robbie, get out!” Sportacus shouted, pushing both hands against Nine and starting the spell again, this time much quicker.

Nine sat up in the bed, locking eyes on Robbie like a hawk. He slapped Sportacus’ hands away and back flipped out of the bed. Robbie’s eyes were wide as saucers; he nervously backed away.

“What, no magic today?” Nine leered in a raspy voice. He laughed at Robbie’s confused expression. “I’ve known you were Fae this whole time. You were convincing _no one_.”

Sportacus felt the air thicken as Robbie tightened the glamour around his wings protectively.

“Nine, step back! You aren’t in control!” Sportacus yelled, grabbing the other elf. Nine easily twisted out of Sportacus’ grasp, cutting through the air and landing behind Robbie. He pulled back the ward and grabbed the taller man in a chokehold, pushing him down so Robbie’s knees were bent at an uncomfortable angle.

Robbie grabbed Nine’s forearms and hissed a spell. Nine shouted and let go, burned red handprints slowly appearing on his skin. Robbie turned around to face the elf and threw a punch at his jaw. Nine staggered back, rubbing his cheek angrily. His eyes flickered red but quickly turned back to brown.

“Is that the best you’ve got?” Nine sneered. “You’re _weak_ , Robbie Rotten.”

Robbie aimed another punch at the elf but this time Nine was ready; he grabbed Robbie’s wrists and yelled a curse at the man.

Nothing happened.

For a moment the fighting paused as everyone absorbed what had just happened.

“You,” Nine growled in a voice that was not his own, turning to Sportacus. “You’ve taken the elf’s magic.”

“I have,” Sportacus said confidently. He pointed a spell at Nine and the hero flew backwards, crashing against the far wall of the ship. The airship swayed gently at the sudden shift. Sportacus was against violence and fighting, but even he accepted that sometimes it was necessary for self-defense

“No matter,” Nine grunted in the other voice. “I can use my own.”

He held out his hands and a black cloud formed between them, crackling with energy. He aimed it at Sportacus, who ducked. The cloud hit the control panel of the ship.

Suddenly, a ringing silence pierced the air.

For a moment, no one knew why. Then the ship lurched and Sportacus’ crystal went haywire.

“The engine’s gone out!” he shouted, pushing Robbie flat against the floor as the ship took a downward spin. “Robbie, stay in that corner and grab something!” Sportacus slipped backwards as the ship tilted to an almost 90 degree angle. He was pressed against the smoking control board. He felt broken glass and sharp metal ripping into his back. From the other end of the ship, Nine had braced himself against the foldable countertop that held the sportscandy display. Stray apples and mangos rolled across the ship and pooled at Sportacus’ feet.

Nine muttered something and another black cloud started forming. Trickles of blood dripped from both nostrils and ears.

 _His body is failing_ , Sportacus thought. Unable to channel unElven magic, Nine’s body was simply giving out. If this didn’t stop soon, Nine was going to die.

“No, don’t!” Sportacus shouted, bending his knees and springing himself forward towards Nine. Sportacus grabbed the hero’s hands and hung from them, breaking through the magic. Nine growled in anger and lashed out, leaving a cut on Sportacus’ cheek, but Sportacus refused to let go. The ship leveled just enough for Sportacus to balance on his own.

An apple came sailing through the air and hit Nine squarely on the forehead. Sportacus turned back to see Robbie hailing fruits at the hero, his mouth set into a firm line. The ward, having used Nine’s magic, had long since fallen away, giving Robbie easy access to the possessed elf.

Nine flicked his wrist and a gash appeared on Robbie’s throwing arm, quickly soaking through his shirt.

Thoughts raced in Sportacus’ mind—a hundred different moves, a hundred different spells, a hundred different ways he could possibly subdue the hero. The ship dangerously lurched again, gaining speed as it nosedived through the air. His feet were almost off the floor. The crystal’s piercing beeps grew even shriller as the ship dived to the ground. Sportacus had to act fast or else they would all die. 

While Nine’s attention was diverted towards Robbie, Sportacus grabbed the closest thing sliding past him—a dictionary—and swung it up at Nine’s skull with all the power he could muster while swinging one-handed from the countertop. He winced in sympathy as Nine crumpled to the floor and slowly slid to the front of the ship, unconscious.

Sportacus looked wild-eyed out the window and saw the ground rapidly approaching. He was out of time. Quickly he summoned a protection spell and threw Robbie and Nine underneath it.

“Grab my hand!” he ordered, holding out one hand while he clung to the sportscandy counter with the other. Robbie pulled the unconscious hero under his arm and reached out to grab Sportacus. The elf easily hoisted them both up and behind the counter where they braced themselves for impact.

“Hold on!” Sportacus screamed, air whistling past the door as the ship plummeted closer and closer to earth, his crystal wailing in his ear, Nine’s belongings crashing loudly into the front of the ship.

When they hit the ground, it was as if time itself stopped. Glass exploded and seemed to hang in the air for a split second before settling down over everything like rain. Sportacus wrapped his arms around the tubes of sportscandy, pinning Nine to the wall with his back and using his own weight to keep the hero from sliding away. It was an awkward angle that he was only barely managing to keep.

The front of the ship crumpled into itself, swallowing up everything in its way. Sportacus fervently hoped that he had pulled them up high enough to avoid the worst of the damage.

The impact broke Robbie’s grip on the counter and he fell backward toward the mess of glass and metal. His panicked eyes locked onto Sportacus’ and the elf instinctively reached out to grab Robbie’s arm but he wasn’t fast enough. Robbie was falling, falling.

Wings erupted from Robbie’s back, catching him just before he fell against the twisted metal poking up through the ruins of the ship. He fluttered in the air looking confused, like he wasn’t expecting that to happen. Sportacus gazed up in awe, mouth open as if to say something.

Then the tail of the ship crashed down onto the ground. Sportacus was ripped from the sportscandy tubes and he fell face-forward. Warmth spread across his face and the taste of copper flooded his mouth. Nine slumped down and slid to the foot of the bed. Robbie hit the ceiling and then fell to the floor, tangled in his wings.

The ship groaned and rolled to the side. The three of them, limp as rag dolls, slammed into the wall. Sportacus felt heavy books and workout equipment fall on top of him.

Eventually everything stilled. Through the haze, Sportacus could smell something burning. The air was thick with smoke. He weakly raised his head to see that the control board had caught fire. His head fell back to the floor. The crystal vibrated on his chest but Sportacus could not hear it, all he could hear was the sharp ringing in his ears. His vision blurred, tinted black at the edges. Sportacus fought against the darkness pulling him in.

“Fire…Robbie…fi…” he groaned. He _tried_ to say that they had to leave because of the fire, but the words wouldn’t come. Blood pooled under his nose and he struggled to breathe. The weight of all of Nine’s things on top of him threatened to crush him. One of his legs was trapped behind the bed.

 _Come on, don’t give in now,_ he urged himself. _They need you_. He had never felt so _helpless_.

Sportacus felt grass under his fingertips and knew that the ship had rolled over on top of the exit. There was one other exit though…

Sportacus lifted his eyes to the closed platform on his left. He felt an apple against his thigh and reached down to grab it. After taking a few bites, he felt some energy start to trickle back into his veins. He raised his hand to touch the platform. He closed his eyes, focused some of his magic into his palm, and silently recited a spell.

The platform blew off, leaving the circular hole open. Sportacus couldn’t hear anything but he hoped that the sound was loud enough to attract help.

Sportacus directed all of the magic he had left into a levitating spell. This was his last chance at getting Nine and Robbie out of the wreckage. Two blue lights emerged from his hand and floated a few inches above Sportacus’ chest. They each glided to opposite ends of the ship. They were out of Sportacus’ line of sight but the elf hoped they would do what he asked them to do.

A few moments later an unconscious Nine, glowing in blue light, floated towards the exit. Sportacus was waning in and out of consciousness; he wasn’t sure how much longer he could fight it off. He just had to make sure Robbie was safely out too…

After minutes that felt like hours, a similarly glowing Robbie hovered up and out of the exit as well.

Sportacus’ head fell back and he faded out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Robbie: Sportacus it's too dangerous, you can't go up there!
> 
> Also Robbie: *goes up there*
> 
> Dammit Robbie just stay where you are.


	11. Chapter 11

Robbie was flying.

Or rather, he was _floating_ , and for some reason everything was blue.

But no matter, he was enjoying the feeling of being completely weightless. He briefly wondered how he could be flying if his wings were hanging to the ground beneath him, but he would think about that later. Right now, everything was fine.

The sense of calm didn’t last long.

Ahead of him, also covered in that strange shade of blue, was Number Nine. Robbie felt sluggish; he wanted to panic and run but his feelings weren’t cooperating. It was as if time had been slowed down.

Robbie drifted in and out of consciousness. Eventually the _blue_ started to fade, letting him float gently to the ground some distance away from the burning ship. Something nagged at Robbie in the back of his mind. He knew there was…something…wrong, but he couldn’t focus on any details. Earlier he had felt relaxed and content, but now…now his frustration was growing. He tried to sit up but it made him dizzy.

“Sport—Sporta—” he tried to call out, vaguely registering that he hadn’t seen Sportacus around him at all. All he could manage was a whisper. That small effort left him feeling totally drained, and he closed his eyes, welcoming the sleep.

The fire licked at the trees behind him, and with a final groan, the ship caved in on itself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I know it's been a while since my last update. Sorry for the super short filler chapter but school is kicking my butt lol. The next chapter is already in progress so hopefully I can have that up by next weekend. Thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Without further ado, here's chapter 12!!!

Robbie twisted uncomfortably, locked in the throes of a nightmare.

_My wings._

He felt broken metal slicing through them, blood smearing onto his skin as his wings desperately wrapped themselves around Robbie to protect him. Half conscious, he tried to tuck them back inside his body.

Robbie saw flashes of the falling ship, he saw Nine mangled to death by the wreckage and Sportacus missing limbs…

“ _Rooobbbiiiieee_. _"_

Robbie cracked his eyes open, blinded by the light of the room.

Where was he, exactly?

A pink blur stood to the left of his bed.

“Robbie? Oh you’re finally awake!”

His ears felt overly-sensitive and her shrill voice didn’t do much to help. He winced slightly.

“Pinky? What are you—where are we?” he croaked.

“The hospital,” she said, wringing her hands in worry. “You were badly hurt.”

“What…” Robbie had so many questions he didn’t know where to begin. He felt bandages wrapped around most of his body, and his left arm was in a cast.

“What happened?” he asked.

“We found you and Nine outside of the ship…it had crashed into the forest. My uncle called an ambulance and they brought you here.”

“Where’s Nine?” Robbie looked at the beds around him but they were curtained off.

“He’s down the hall,” Stephanie said, pointing towards the door. “Sportacus is here too.”

Immediately guilt flooded Robbie at the mention of the elf, guilt that he hadn’t thought of Sportacus first. The elf had gone out of his way to help the town and Robbie had only thought of himself.

Still…there was still that deep mistrust of the elf. How could Robbie know for certain that what happened with Nine wouldn’t happen with Number Ten as well?

“How is he doing?”

“He’s hurt really badly, Robbie.” Stephanie’s eyes welled up with tears. “There was a fire that had taken over the ship and it—it spread to the forest. We got to you before you were burned but…it took the firefighters a while to cut through the airship and by then Sportacus was really hurt.”

Robbie wasn’t sure how to react. What was he supposed to say? He didn’t know the elf; he couldn’t claim that they were friends. And yet, that gnawing guilt tugged at him again. If it hadn’t been for Robbie, then Sportacus would never have gotten involved.

“How long have I been here?” he asked, changing the subject. He would figure out his emotions towards elves later, when he _wasn’t_ on the brink of death.

“Four days. We took turns visiting. Stingy came first, then Ziggy, then Trixie, then me and Pixel. He’s sitting out in the hall.”

_The kids visited me?_

His heart swelled at the idea that the kids cared about him enough to come see him, to make sure he was ok. He blinked back fresh tears.

Stephanie stifled a yawn and Robbie noted the dark circles under her eyes. She looked burdened, exhausted.

“Go home Pinky,” he said nonchalantly, waving his hand. “Get some rest. Tell Pixel to go home too.”

“Ok Robbie,” she nodded. “We’ll come back tomorrow. Goodnight.” She turned to leave.

“Hey Pinky—” he suddenly called out. When Stephanie turned around, he awkwardly looked away, not sure how to say what he wanted to say.

“Thanks…for visiting me.”

Through her exhaustion, Stephanie beamed. “Of course!”

After she left, Robbie looked at the small digital clock on the bedside table. 1:15 A.M.

_No wonder the kid looked so tired. She shouldn’t be awake right now._

Robbie shifted on the bed and stared at the holes on the ceiling tiles, counting them until he fell asleep.

*

After three more days, Robbie was finally discharged from the hospital. Thankfully his injuries hadn’t been too severe; one broken rib, one broken arm, one sprained ankle and a whole lot of bruises. He stood by his hospital bed, thinking.

Should he visit Nine? It seemed like every time the hero saw Robbie, he went out of control.

_Maybe I should leave him alone until Sportacus recovers._

Which led him to his next thought. Should he visit the elf? Robbie supposed that would be the least he could do, considering he would be dead without Sportacus, but at the same time it was far too easy to blame his anxiety and just go home instead.

With a sign, Robbie left his room and walked down the hall to where the elf lay.

*

Sportacus looked _awful_. He was covered in bandages and connected to so many machines that Robbie lost count. Sports elves should not look like this. They should be brimming with energy and flipping and running and jumping. They should _not_ be unconscious in the hospital. Fresh guilt chewed at Robbie again. He sat down in the chair by Sportacus’ bed. A few blond curls peeked out from beneath the elf’s hat and Robbie resisted the urge to tuck them back in.

_Where did_ that _come from?_ Uneasy at the unexpected intrusive thought, he avoided looking at the elf and tried to think of something else, but of course once that first thought came, the rest followed rapidly. Robbie glanced at the elf’s face, at the sharp edge of his jaw, at the wide curve of his shoulders…

He looked so _different_ from Number Nine. Where Nine’s features were hard and unyielding, Sportacus’ face was open and kind.

“Stop it,” Robbie muttered out loud to himself. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned his head back against the wall.

After a while, Sportacus stirred. Robbie sat up taller in the chair, somewhat relieved but also suddenly unsure of himself. What was he supposed to say? How could he possible articulate his feelings when he didn’t even know what he _felt_? Was is gratitude, fear, hatred, or a combination of all three? He felt horribly unprepared, and nervously wrung his hands.

“Hi Robbie,” Sportacus croaked. “How are you doing?”

“How am _I_ doing?” Robbie asked, incredulous. “You—you went through all of—of _this_ and you’re asking me how _I’m_ doing?”

Confusion flickered through the elf’s face. “Why wouldn’t I? You were unconscious when I got you out of the ship, I want to make sure you’re ok now.”

Robbie stared at him, at a loss for words. Some strange emotion crept through him, something so rare that he almost couldn’t identify it. Then his heart twinged with pain and he bitterly looked away.

_Don’t get your hopes up, he doesn’t care about you. He’s just doing his job._

Sportacus must have seen the change in Robbie’s expression because he held up a hand and started to sit up, then fell back to the bed with a grunt.

“How long have I been here?” he asked tiredly.

“A week,” Robbie mumbled.

The elf’s eyes widened in shock. “A _week_?”

Robbie glanced at the cuts on the elf’s arms. They had already scabbed over but they were far from gone. “Shouldn’t you be healed by now?”

“I am, it’s just that deeper injuries take longer. But I had no idea it’s been so _long_ already.” He shook his head, like he couldn’t believe he had lost track of such a large chunk of time. “Where is Number Nine?”

“Pinky told me he was in the hospital too, but I haven’t been to see him yet.” Sportacus nodded solemnly.

“That is wise. I don’t know how stable he is right now.”

“How stable are _you_ right now?” Robbie asked, gesturing at the various machines surrounding the elf.

“I’m ok. By tomorrow I should be able to leave.”

Sportacus reached for the bottle of water next to his bed but winced. Without thinking, Robbie leaned forward and pushed the bottle closer to his hand. Then he mentally berated himself.

_Stupid stupid stupid! Why did you_ do _that?_

Robbie had to stay away from _all_ elves for the time being, including the seemingly good-natured one lying before him. He didn’t know when Sporta _loon_ would snap, and he didn’t want to be around to see it. This elf was dangerous, maybe just as much as Nine; Sportacus could get under people’s skin with his fake kindness, could win them over with his seemingly genuine attitude. Robbie simply could not give this elf his trust. Ultimately, he too would disappoint him.

“I have to go,” he announced abruptly, shooting out of his chair and speed-walking out of the room before the elf could respond.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, here is the new chapter! It's the longest one yet, hope you guys like it!

True to his word, Sportacus was out of the hospital the next day. With the doctors’ warnings to take it easy for the next couple of weeks ringing in his ears, he immediately made his way to Robbie’s lair.

The walking was slow, and Sportacus was not used to _slow._ He wanted to run, jump, flip his way over to Robbie’s house, but instead was stuck shuffling at a ridiculously slow speed. He _was_ recovering, but it was a long, arduous process.

Sportacus arrived at the metal hatch and knocked on it once, hearing the echo travel down to the tunnels below. To his left the periscope popped up, and Sportacus weakly smiled at it.

“Hello Robbie,” he said. “May I come in?”

“Why?” Robbie called up. “What do you want, Sportaflop?”

Normally Sportacus would indulge Robbie and play along with his back-and-forth games, but today his body ached in protest at every movement and his patience was cut short because of it. He needed to sit down or else he would collapse right there.

“I need to speak with you about Number Nine,” Sportacus called back down, tight-lipped, fighting the wave of nausea that washed over him suddenly. He grabbed onto the metal hatch for support and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the periscope was gone.

“Fine, come in,” was the reply. Without hesitating, Sportacus opened the hatch and slid down the slide, stumbling slightly on the landing. He shakily steadied himself and looked up to see Robbie staring at him strangely.

“What is it?”

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Robbie asked.

“Yes I’m okay, I have to get back to my ship soon to rest but I needed to stop by here first.” Sportacus eyed Robbie, noting the dark circles and bruises painting his face. “Are you doing ok, Robbie?”

“I’m—yes, I’m fine,” he grunted. He kept his eyes on the ground, trying not to let the elf’s presence affect him. _Sportaflop is not like Nine_ , he told himself.

So why couldn’t he believe it?

Robbie knew that Sportaflop was _different_ , saw that the elf was genuinely kind and caring, but it was still so hard to trust him. Robbie wanted to believe him so badly, but he had to protect himself too.

“Robbie, did you hear me?” Sportacus asked, placing a hand on Robbie’s shoulder. Robbie flinched away— _when did he even walk over here?—_ and scowled.

“Obviously I didn’t,” he hissed. “What did you say?”

A strange expression crossed Sportacus’ face. Was that concern? It disappeared before Robbie could identify it, but the elf still seemed uneasy.

“Robbie, don’t worry, we’re going to get to the bottom of this. I promise you that Nine will _never_ hurt you again,” Sportacus said firmly. He looked so certain, so _sure_ , that Robbie almost believed him before remembering who the promise was coming from.

His brother would be cursing his name if he knew who Robbie was recruiting for help. Glanni always told him never to trust an elf, that elves were only good for one thing, that elves always caused trouble. Up until now, Robbie had had no reason to doubt this. Now, Sportacus was challenging everything Robbie had taken to be true.

“What did you come here to say?” Robbie asked, lessening the growl in his voice but still keeping his tone short. Sportacus sighed, rubbing his forehead. He looked weak, like he would break in half any moment. Robbie wondered just how badly the elf was hurt. It was clear he was hiding the worst of his injuries for everyone else’s sake.

“I’m going to visit Nine tomorrow.”

“You— _what_?” Robbie spluttered. “He’s not safe! And you’re hurt badly, you wouldn’t be able to protect yourself or—or others, or the kids,” he added, not wanting it to seem like he was concerned for the elf’s safety, because of course he _wasn’t._

“The sooner we figure out who is possessing him the sooner we can free him. Nine doesn’t have much time Robbie,” Sportacus said earnestly. “Maybe tomorrow he won’t even be himself anymore. Maybe I should go right now—” Sportacus made for the ladder leading out of the lair, as if he already decided to go see Nine before finishing his sentence.

“No wait,” Robbie called, grabbing Sportacus’s arm to stop him from leaving. He hastily withdrew his hand. “Sorry, I—I just think right now you should rest.”

Sportacus paused. “You’re right, I’m acting too quickly. I should get back to my ship, I’ll see you tomorrow Robbie.” He waved half-heartedly and started climbing up the ladder. Robbie watched him leave uneasily, mixed feelings floating through his head.

Sportacus’ hand missed one of the rungs, and to Robbie the following seconds seemingly happened in slow motion. The elf grasped empty air, lost his balance, and started falling backwards. Robbie shouted in surprise and ran to break his fall but he was too slow; Sportacus landed on his back and his head hit the concrete with a sickening thud.

“Hey! Are you alright??” Robbie yelled, waving his hands in front of Sportacus’ face.

No response.

“Shit,” Robbie breathed, running a hand through his hair. What was he supposed to do? He was never good at handling bad situations. He leaned his head against Sportacus’ chest and was silently relieved to hear a heartbeat.

“Okay okay, think Robbie,” he said. He spotted the couch against the wall nodded to himself. He bent down and tried to lift Sportacus before cursing and clutching his ribs.

“Okay, plan B,” he panted. Grabbing Sportacus’ legs, Robbie started pulling him backwards. With a grunt he managed to push the elf onto the couch. He took a deep breath and placed his hand against the elf’s forehead.

“No fever, that’s good…Must have just overexerted himself.” His gaze drifted down to Sportacus’s face. He looked so peaceful, all the worry lines smoothed out. Robbie fought the impulse to curl up next to him and sleep.

_No, stop right there. He is the_ enemy.

But was he really? Sportacus hadn’t done anything that made Robbie doubt his honesty.

Robbie shook his head to clear his thoughts. This was getting out of hand. He needed to get a better hold of his emotions or this would end badly for him.

Sportacus groaned and wrapped his arm around his waist. Robbie glanced down at him and quickly did a double take. A dark red stain spread through the fabric around Sportacus’ hand. Robbie wrenched the hand out of the way and yanked Sportacus’ shirt up.

“Oh fuck,” he breathed. Swollen lacerations covered Sportacus’ stomach, some curving down under the waistband of his pants and others reaching up past his shoulders, all stitched into angry red zigzags. One of the sutures had ripped open, oozing blood onto the couch. Robbie bit his tongue to keep himself from throwing up and focused some magic into his palms. It wasn’t as strong as he’d like, but it would have to do. He muttered a few words in Fae and watched the leaking wound stitch itself together. The flow of blood trickled and eventually stopped. Robbie ran to the bathroom to get the first-aid kit and gently applied a Band-Aid to the cut. He wished he could heal the others but he didn’t have enough magic right then; he was still building up his stores from the accident.

“Crisis averted,” Robbie sighed, plopping down to the floor and leaning against the couch.

*

He must have fallen asleep because he opened his eyes, disoriented.

“Robbie, you’re awake,” Sportacus said tiredly.

Robbie spun around to see Sportacus sitting up, his head resting against the back of the couch. He looked pale, and weak.

“Yeah…How long was I out?” Robbie asked, rubbing his face.

“A couple hours, at least. When I woke up you were asleep.”

“Crap, why didn’t you wake me up?”

“Because you needed the rest.”

Robbie got to his feet and waited for the head rush to pass. He sat down beside Sportacus, feeling his forehead again. Still no fever. Good.

“How are you feeling?” he murmured. Sportacus managed a weak smile.

“I will be okay by the end of this week. I think I didn’t give myself enough time to heal.”

“I think we both underestimated the damage,” Robbie said, returning the smile. Then, as if realizing just who he was talking to, the smile faded from his face and he looked away. Sportacus’ expression changed and he frowned.

“Robbie, I know you’re afraid—”

“What? I’m not afraid,” Robbie interrupted indignantly.

“—but I’m not going to hurt you. I need you to work with me, I can’t help Nine on my own.”

“I’m not scared of you,” Robbie repeated, but his voice was not convincing.

“You called me here, right? To Lazytown?” Sportacus prompted. He waited for Robbie to nod before continuing. “Then we have to work together on this.”

Robbie averted eye contact, knowing that if he looked at Sportacus, those blue, blue eyes would sway him and he would agree. He did _not_ want to work with the elf, he just wanted Lazytown to be quiet and _normal_ again. That only left him with one option.

He would have to go see Nine himself.

*

Robbie waited until Sportacus left before planning his move. He would go to the hospital and see if he could gather any information about the hero’s current state. Was it dangerous? Yes. Was it a bad idea to go alone? Definitely. But Robbie could not stand being around Sportacus for one more second, he _needed_ to figure out what was wrong with Nine so that Sportacus could leave and Robbie could finally be free of _elves_ who hit him and hurt him and jumped around too much and wore shirts that were too tight…

Robbie shook his head. _Why_ was he so infatuated with this elf?

But he knew that answer to that.

Sportacus made Robbie feel…cared for, which was a feeling that Robbie was quickly realizing he lacked in his life. Robbie called for him and Sportacus came, just like that. He came to help Robbie, a stranger to him, and put his own life at risk multiple times.

“No catching feelings allowed,” he muttered to himself. When the sun finally went down and darkness fell over Lazytown, Robbie snuck outside and made his way to the hospital.

*

The machines connected to Nine beeped quietly. Robbie felt uncomfortably vulnerable; he’d wanted to protect himself with wards but he hadn’t been able to conjure any up—he was still too weak. He had hidden a knife in the waistband of his pants, but if worse came to worst he wasn’t sure he’d be able to use it.

Robbie stepped closer to Nine and focused what magic he had left into his eyes; he wanted to search Nine’s aura and see if he could glean any information from it.

“Crap!” Robbie staggered backwards in fear, almost tripping over his own feet. Instead of a bright healthy red, Nine’s aura was almost completely black. Even if Robbie was fully powered with magic, he wouldn’t be able to remove the black by himself. He took a deep breath to steady his racing heart and focused harder on the red that was left. Most of it was clustered around Nine’s chest, but it was pulsing, almost like it was…

“Fighting,” Robbie murmured, stepping in closer to the hero. The red shining around Nine’s heart flickered weakly. Every so often, a part of the red would fade into black. Robbie leaned in closer, his breaths loud in the eerily quiet room. He was almost head to head with Nine, trying to get a better look at his aura. Robbie was in awe that the _black_ —whatever it was—hadn’t completely consumed Nine yet. Nine, the _real_ Nine, was stronger than Robbie ever gave him credit for.

Robbie switched back to his regular vision, his gaze trailing from the silent machines to Nine’s still form on the bed.

_Wait a minute._

_Weren’t the machines beeping a minute ago?_

Robbie turned back to the blank screen of the heart monitor. His blood turned to ice and adrenaline roared in his ears. Slowly, dreading what he might see, he turned to Nine.

The hero slept, oblivious to Robbie’s presence.

Robbie sighed gratefully, all the tension leaving his body as he slumped into the chair by Nine’s bed. He rubbed his aching ribs and stood to leave, giving Nine one more passing glance before he left.

Nine was staring at Robbie with eyes black as night. They locked eyes, Robbie not fully understanding what he was seeing—wasn’t Nine asleep two seconds ago?

Then Robbie felt a searing pain in his knees and he was forced to kneel to the ground.

“Sto—what are you doing, stop!” he shouted, struggling to stand up but failing against Nine’s magic.

“I was hoping you’d come,” Nine said in a grating voice. Robbie immediately recognized it as the same voice he had used in the airship.

“Nine, this isn’t you!” Robbie yelled, panic rising in this throat. He felt light-headed and was afraid he would pass out any moment, leaving himself completely defenseless against the hero.

“I’ve been waiting for you, _Glanni_ ,” the elf sneered, baring his teeth. Confusion sliced through Robbie’s fear and he stared at Nine, mouth agape.

“ _What_?!” he screeched. “I’m not Glanni!”

“Shut up!” Nine barked. “I hoped that if I played along with your ridiculous _Robbie Rotten_ identity that I could get you to confess, but I see now that that was a waste of time.”

“No, I’m not Glanni, I’m—”

“I said shut up!” Nine thrust out his hand and suddenly Robbie couldn’t speak. He grasped at his throat and coughed but no sound came out. The panic threatened to overpower him again and he was hit with another wave of light-headedness.

“I don’t want to hear your disgusting lies,” Nine barked. “I know you poisoned all those people, I know you’ve been on the run, I know _everything_.”

Robbie frantically shook his head. “ _No, no, it wasn’t me_!” he tried to say, but no words came. Nine walked closer to Robbie and snapped his fingers. Robbie slammed forward, his hands breaking the fall. His back strained under the weight of Nine’s spell, and the urge to lie down and give up almost consumed him. Robbie had never dealt with magic like that before…he didn’t want to admit it, but he was absolutely terrified.

“Give up Glaepur, you’re not escaping now,” Nine laughed mirthlessly. “No? Okay, have it your way then.” Nine flexed his hand and Robbie flew backwards, slamming hard into the wall. He blinked dazedly, his vision blurry.

A small smile on his lips, Nine muttered something and Robbie immediately felt glass digging into his palms. He tried to scream and couldn’t, tried to fight off Nine’s grip but couldn’t. The glass dug deeper into his skin.

“This,” Nine hissed, gesturing at Robbie’s bleeding palms, “is to keep you from throwing spells at me when my back is turned.” He grinned lopsidedly. “I’m going to have so much fun with you, Glaepur.”

Robbie thought quickly, his mind racing. As discreetly as he could, he twisted his hands and pressed his bloody palms against the wall. Hopefully Sportacus would see it and understand.

Nine grabbed a fistful of Robbie’s shirt, snapped his fingers, and they were gone.


	14. Chapter 14

Sportacus woke with a start to his crystal’s wails. He rubbed his eyes and stumbled out of bed, willing the haze in his head to clear so that he could figure out who needed help.

“Ship, what time is it?” he asked groggily.

“It is 1:23 a.m.,” the ship replied in a cool voice. Sportacus sat down on the edge of the mattress and closed his eyes, focusing on the images flashing through his mind. He saw glimpses of Robbie being thrown backwards and someone else—but who was the other person? Sportacus jerked back, sickened by what his crystal was showing him.

“Robbie’s in trouble!” he shouted, bolting upright. “Where is he?” He massaged his temples, silently begging his crystal for more information. If he focused hard enough he could just make out what looked like the corner of a heart monitor.

“Ship, if I’m not back by morning, send a message to my brother!” Sportacus called before jumping out of the open doorway.

He rolled into a landing and sprinted off in the direction of the hospital.

*

Robbie’s eyes snapped open. For just a second he was disoriented, but then everything came rushing back to him. He brought up an arm to rub his head but his hand stopped short.

“What the hell…” he tried to whisper before remembering that Nine had put a Silencing curse on him. Robbie looked down and saw chains attached to his wrists. His eyes widened with panic and he looked around the room, immediately searching for a way out. He tried to cast a Signal to Sportacus so that the elf would be able to find him, but as soon as he thought the words in his mind, his palms lit up with pain.

Robbie keened silently in agony. His hands felt like they had been doused in acid. What the hell was going on? He inspected the cuts on his hands and saw the glass still embedded inside. Nine’s words came rushing back to him. _“This is to keep you from throwing spells at me when my back is turned.”_ Robbie’s blood ran cold as he slowly realized the depth of the situation he had gotten himself into. This was no harmless prank. The hero was _dangerous._

The doorknob on the only exit out of the room jiggled and swung inward to reveal Number Nine. He walked inside and locked the door behind him.

“Good morning,” he said cheerfully, as if he wasn’t holding Robbie hostage, as if he were talking to a friend instead of a prisoner. “How did you sleep?”

Robbie hated him, he _hated_ this whatever-it-was possessing Nine. He knew Nine was taunting him, he _knew_ Nine knew he couldn’t speak. Nine laughed lightly.

“That’s right, I forgot you’re still Silenced. Do you want me to reverse that?”

Robbie stubbornly did nothing despite the fact that he was itching to scream every obscenity he had ever learned at the elf. Nine frowned, the smile melting off his face. He snapped and suddenly all Robbie could see was black.

Robbie blinked wildly but he couldn’t see, he _couldn’t see anything_.

_What did you do to me!_ he mouthed, blindly grabbing at the air where he thought Nine was.

“Do you like it? It’s a Blinding spell. I know you’ve probably never dealt with one of those before, so I bet this is a fun surprise,” Nine said conversationally. “I have hundreds of other tricks, Glaepur. You can end all of this nonsense right now by confessing. Tap twice on the wall when you’re ready to give up.”

Robbie heard Nine’s footsteps recede. 

He slumped against the wall, his heart pounding violently, hoping that Sportacus would be able to find him soon and hating himself for wishing that. He wasn’t sure how much of Nine’s abuse he could take. Robbie didn’t want to admit it to anyone, least of all himself, but he was petrified. He had no idea what Nine was going to do to him and he really didn’t want to stick around long enough to find out.

“Sportacus, please hurry,” he mouthed to the empty room.

*

Number Nine paced angrily in his room, speed-walking from one side of the small space to the other without skipping a beat. The stupid elf that lived in this body before _he_ possessed it had been very patient and kind, but _he_ knew none of those traits. _He_ was irritated and on edge, _he_ wanted Glaepur to just confess already so that the towns Glaepur had ruined could find some justice. But of course, as usual, Glanni was determined to make everything difficult.

Nine felt the beginnings of a headache start to stir. _He_ knew what this meant.

The elf was trying to fight him again.

Impatiently _he_ concentrated his own magic around what was left of the elf’s flickering, red aura. No matter how hard _he_ tried, _he_ could not stamp out that last bit of elven magic. The elf was putting up a better fight than _he_ expected.

“You will not win,” the elf’s body whispered.

“Yes I will,” _he_ promised.

*

Sportacus burst into the hospital room, hoping against hope to see Nine in his bed and Robbie asleep in the chair beside him, knowing that this would not be the case but wishing for it anyway.

With a sinking heart, he saw the rumpled, twisted blankets on the bed, but there was something else too…what were those spots on the sheets?

Sportacus edged closer to the bed and immediately balked away, horrified. Those were spots of _blood._

He turned his head away in anger, running through the possibilities for what might have happened here. What might have happened to _Robbie._

Sportacus’ eyes rested on the wall. Before he could even react to the bloody handprints he saw there, his crystal started beeping again. Sportacus saw an empty room with someone sitting down in the corner. No, not someone…that was Robbie!

Robbie sat hugging his knees, staring blankly at a patch of carpet on the floor. He was mouthing something but Sportacus couldn’t make out the words.  

“Come on crystal, where is he? I need more…” he begged, leaning down to touch the handprints. The moment his fingers made contact with the wall, the crystal wailed louder, and more images flashed though his mind. He saw Number Nine pacing agitatedly, seemingly talking to someone who wasn’t there. Sportacus tried to get a look of the city through the windows in Nine’s room, trying to figure out where the two were. It looked nothing like Lazytown, but it _did_ look like one of the neighboring towns that the Mayor had warned him against, towns wild with crime whose justice systems looked the other way.

Sportacus’ stomach twisted at the thought of what Nine could do now that he was out of the city limits of Lazytown. With access to all kinds of things not available here, he could do any number of horrors on Robbie, poor Robbie who had just been trying to help…

Sportacus had a vague idea of where the pair might be, and with his crystal pointing the way he hoped he could get there soon enough. He didn’t want to think about any alternatives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I am back! I never intended for the break to be as long as it was but I am aiming for more regular updates now that I am on break. Thanks for sticking with me!!


	15. Chapter 15

Sportacus didn’t know the name of this town, but he did know that it was very dangerous, especially for elves. The streets around him were deadly quiet, and the buildings were in disrepair. The town had a dingy look to it that vaguely signaled to the turmoil within. Gangs were rampant there, crime happened on every corner. The inhabitants knew their way around, which roads to avoid at what hours of the day. Sportacus had none of that knowledge, only his crystal and his ship. He trusted them and hoped they would get him to Robbie quickly, before anything worse happened.

*

Robbie sat in the corner of the room, trying not to let the hopelessness get to him. It had been three days since he had been kidnapped, and the confinement was starting to eat at him. With no way to pass the time and no way out without his sight, he was trapped in his own mind. His thoughts were all the worst-case scenarios that could happen and they were driving him insane. Robbie wanted to think of something—anything—else but inevitably he would end up thinking about the different ways he’d be killed.

What was taking Sportacus so long? Surely he had figured out where he was…Robbie knew that the crystal on his chest possessed incredible magic. Even if Sportacus himself didn’t know, his crystal had to. It just had to. Because if even his crystal didn’t know, then Robbie _was_ doomed…

“No,” he mouthed. He couldn’t keep thinking about that! He had to stay hopeful, at least for Sportacus’ sake.

But…why? Why did Robbie care so much about this stupid elf? Sure he was powerful and smart and incredibly attractive but—

No no no. Robbie could not think about _that_ right now. He had to stay focused. Besides, why would an elf like that go for a Fae like him? Robbie wasn’t strong like him, he wasn’t quick like him, he wasn’t _anything_ like him! If he was, then he wouldn’t have gotten himself trapped in here!

Ok, no more self-pity allowed. Robbie had to _d_ o something. He felt along the chain on his left hand until he touched where it connected to the wall. He ran his fingers over the nails, counting them. One. Two. Three. Four. Just four nails, spaced evenly apart. He felt the wall, feeling it lightly with his fingers. The drywall was cheap quality and the nails were small. He should be able to break it if he tried hard enough.

He grabbed the chains in each hand and yanked them up and then down, over and over until it started to loosen. Just a little bit more…almost there—

The door burst open and someone walked inside. Robbie jerked and let go of the chains, trying to act natural while his heart raced.

“Listen you stupid Fae,” Nine growled, his footsteps quick and heavy. He grabbed the front of Robbie’s shirt, breathing hard. “I’m done with your games. Either confess today or I’m going to kill you. I don’t have time to babysit a criminal.”

Suddenly a strong light blinded Robbie and he realized he could _see_ again, and then he realized that it wasn’t a strong light at all, just the lamp of the room he was stuck in. He choked back a sob of relief, not appreciating until then just how amazing sight really was. He promised himself never to take it for granted again.

Robbie wanted to shout so many things, he wanted to tell Nine that the only criminal here was him, that Nine seriously had to do his research before kidnapping people, that neither he nor Glanni deserved any of this treatment.

Ever since Nine had accused him of being Glanni, Robbie had been afraid to reach out to Glanni in case the elf was tracking his messages. Robbie hadn’t wanted to unwittingly lead the elf to the real Glanni, but now he was realizing that he should have found another way to ask his brother for help. Clearly the situation was worse than Robbie thought.

“I’m not going to give you back your voice,” Nine spat, “that’s more than what scum like you deserves. But I can reverse it partially so that the only words you say are your confession. Do you want me to do that?” he sneered. “Or would you rather keep pretending to be someone else?”

Robbie buried the despair he felt at never speaking again, and instead head-butted the hero as hard as he could.

“Argh!” Nine yelled, staggering back as blood started to drip from his nose. Robbie kicked his legs in wide arc, sending Nine crashing to the floor while he was distracted. Robbie used the adrenaline pounding in his veins to pull once, twice, then yank himself free from the wall. He jumped to his feet and raced towards the open door.

Nine grabbed Robbie’s ankle and Robbie fell hard. He straddled him and aimed punch after punch at his face. Robbie tried to cover his face with his hands but the ends of the chains had snagged on Nine’s pants. He took blow after blow, feeling the blood running into his mouth, his ears, his eyes.

 _Get off me!_ he mouthed, kneeing the hero in the back. Nine slammed forward onto him and Robbie used the momentum to roll them both over so that he was on top. He raked the nails on the edge of the chains across Nine’s face, pushing as hard as he could. Nine roared in pain and flung Robbie off. Robbie made another dash for the door but this time Nine tackled him from behind. They fell face-forward over the threshold.

Suddenly Robbie heard a faint beeping coming from below, and a newfound hope filled him. He strained to get up under Nine’s weight but Nine pushed him down.

“Oh no you don’t,” he growled, raking his claws down Robbie’s shoulders. Robbie keened in silent agony, feeling the blood drenching his shirt. He grabbed the edge of the wall and lifted himself up a little, but Nine grabbed Robbie’s leg and dragged him back. Robbie saw the blood pooling around him and felt more blood soaking his thighs from where Nine had clawed him but he had to get himself out, he couldn’t give up now, not when he was so close. Robbie fought the wave of unconsciousness that washed over him and kicked Nine in the ribs.

The beeping got louder and Robbie saw a figure coming up the stairs, and then his heart filled with so much relief he thought it would burst.

Sportacus charged across the hall and launched himself at Nine, pushing him to the floor and pinning him down with his legs. Sportacus grabbed Nine’s arms and used his own weight to trap him.

“Robbie, run!” Sportacus yelled, maintaining fierce eye contact with Nine. He murmured something that Robbie couldn’t hear, but whatever it was, it was seemingly calming Nine down. Robbie tried to stand but his leg gave out and he crumpled back to the floor.

Nine struggled weakly against Sportacus, then closed his eyes and went limp. Sportacus turned to Robbie and saw the questioning look on his face.

“Subduing spell,” he panted, clutching his side. “I wasn’t sure if it would work on an elf that’s possessed but it’s holding for the time being. Can you walk?”

Robbie shook his head and pointed at his bleeding leg. Sportacus frowned.

“Can you talk?” he asked.

Robbie shook his head again.

“A Silencing spell,” Sportacus growled. “I can’t believe he would—” he clenched and unclenched his fists, trying to get his temper under control. “Robbie don’t worry, ok? I’m going to find a way to fix this. Come on.”

He bent down to help Robbie up, supporting most of his weight, and led him outside the building.

“Ladder!” he called.

The ship’s ladder unfurled and Sportacus shifted Robbie’s weight to his back so that he could free his arms to climb.

Once in the ship, Sportacus set Robbie down gently on the floor.

“I’ll be back in a minute, I’m going to get Nine.”

Robbie nodded and tried to bite back his queasiness. He _hated_ heights and the gentle movements of the ship didn’t do much to quell his fears.

After a few minutes, Sportacus reemerged carrying the unconscious elf on his back. Robbie scooted uneasily away from him.

Sportacus set the elf down in the middle of the floor and stood up, opening his arms wide. He murmured a string of words that Robbie did not understand, but suspected was a containment spell of some sort. The air around Nine shimmered slightly and seemed to solidify until it resembled blurred glass.

“That should be enough space for him,” Sportacus said, nodding at the big sphere around Nine. He turned to Robbie.

“Let me see where he hurt you.”

Robbie pointed at his shoulders and his leg.

“For now I have to bandage them up, but tomorrow I can use some healing spells. Ship, can I have the first-aid kit please?”

A panel in the wall opened up to reveal the kit, and Sportacus rifled through it, pulling out disinfectant wipes, bandages, and a few other supplies. He scooted closer to Robbie and gingerly cut the ripped fabric of his trousers away from his leg, causing Robbie to wince.

“Sorry,” Sportacus said, biting his lip sympathetically. “This is gonna sting a bit but I have to clean the cuts.”

Robbie nodded and clenched his jaw. Sportacus gently dabbed at the claw marks on Robbie’s leg with the alcohol wipes, cleaning away the dried blood. He took the bandage and rolled it around the cuts, securing it in place with some tape.

Robbie was hyperaware of the fact that he was practically half-naked, and that Sportacus was inches from his skin. He flushed with embarrassment but thankfully Sportacus didn’t notice. Robbie watched him work, noting the way the elf pursed his lips in concentration.

“Okay, all done,” Sportacus said, patting Robbie’s knee. “Now for your back. I need you to take off your shirt.”

Robbie raised an eyebrow but started unbuttoning his shirt. He really didn’t want to, but he also didn’t want to die of blood loss, so he gave in. Sportacus kneeled behind Robbie and set to work, repeating the same process.

“Alright, you’re all set,” he said after some time. Sportacus used the last of the wipes to clean the blood from Robbie’s face, and after ensuring nothing was broken, he started putting away the first aid supplies. Robbie tentatively stretched out his hand and put it on Sportacus’ wrist to get his attention. When the elf looked up, Robbie almost didn’t say what he wanted to say. Those blue eyes looked at him so piercingly, like they could see right through his carefully constructed façade.

“Thank you,” he mouthed. Sportacus sighed.

“I’m going to get you your voice back,” he promised again.

Robbie just nodded. Tomorrow, he would go back to hating elves. Today, he just wanted to enjoy the company of this one.


End file.
